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Lt. Kathryn Kitaen, a detective of Magic Affairs for the Metamor City Police Department, is not having her best day. An unidentified man in her precinct has been burned to death by unknown magic. A powerful wizard has erased the evidence from the crime scene. The commander of a powerful paramilitary organization wants to pick a fight over jurisdiction. And to top it all off, the Empire's top spymaster wants her to find his missing daughter: a spoiled and decadent heiress who's infamous for sparking scandal and controversy wherever she goes.

Together with her partner, the Elven life-mage David Silverleaf, Kate must expose a conspiracy of silence in the highest ranks of the Empire's nobility: a web of lies that has already claimed one life, and threatens to take more. To get to the truth -- to protect the city she loves -- Kate will have to unravel a mystery that has baffled the Empire for a generation ... a mystery that began in a magic-filled jungle on the other side of the world...

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Things Unseen will wrap you in a world of magic and science you won't want to leave. Lester has packed his story with characters you won't forget, concepts that will have you thinking long after the book is done, and enough noir to placate even the most rabid hardboiled fan." --Philippa Ballantine, author of Harbinger and Kindred and Wings

"Easily the best of its genre. ... Five out of five elf ears." --Scott Roche, author of Two Steps From Hell and Coming Home Again

About the Author

Chris Lester has tried his hand at many trades: marine biologist, title insurance officer, high school science teacher, writer, editor, clinical researcher, microbiologist. Through many ups, downs, derailments, and right-angle turns, two things have remained constant: a passion for storytelling, and the drive to change how people see the world. Whether behind the microphone, at a keyboard or in front of a classroom, Chris never feels more alive than when he's introducing others to new perspectives and new ideas.

Born in Michigan, trained as a scientist in California and Montana, Chris now makes his home in Madison, Wisconsin. When he isn't writing, he enjoys hiking trails, paddling down rivers, exploring national parks, reading through an ever-growing pile of books, and playing piano and acoustic guitar. He lives with his partner Melanie, their dogs Dulcy and Marco, and three deranged but adorable cats.

Top customer reviews

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Warning: I am undeniably a fan of Chris Lester's work. His podcast is first in my pod catcher and whenever something new of his comes out it's top of my reading list.

This is Urban Fantasy done right: there is no skulking in corners with a largely oblivious mundane majority nor is this your typical magic users in a medieval world. This world - roughly contemporaneous with our own - is one where magic and technology have evolved side by side; each has pros and cons and each is used when it's the best tool for the job. This makes for a fascinating, deep, and complex setting and characters; and room for telling many, interesting stories, sometimes familiar problems with novel twists, sometimes an entirely different class of challenge.

Chris Lester's stories steal beautifully from high fantasy, science fiction, murder mysteries, police procedurals, hard boiled detective stories, and more. It sounds like it should be a mess, but Chris gives each genre their due and writes characters that are faceted, fascinating and believable.

This book takes Chris' writing to a new level. The story covers a lot of ground and, at first, parts seem only loosely connected, but it soon comes nicely together with no unnecessary bits left over... but you'll want the next book :)

I have followed Chris and his Metamor City podcast for several years. When I saw Things Unseen was in print, I was excited to be able to purchase it. Chris' story-telling is riveting. There is action, suspense and the character description is vivid. I'm anxious to see what Chris has in store for us in his next book in the world of Metamor.

Things Unseen is a nice blend of urban fantasy, sci-fi, and mystery. It has an intriguing plot and fascinating characters. Metamor City is one of my favorite series and I look forward to reading the next book.

This book was intriguing from the first sentence and kept hold of me all the way to the end. In mysteries, I tend not to see a lot of character development, but there was some real intense growth in our main protagonist. In fact, every single character brimmed with life (or death, in the case of vampires--just trying to be fair here). Metamor City is rich, deep, and full of stories to tell. This was only one of them, and WHAT A STORY!

I always seem to go months or years between reading Lester's works, and when I invariably come back, I'm always awed at how great they are. His words are captivating, the plots detailed but not over-complex, and the characters ridiculously real. I'll be back to Metamor City soon (hopefully not months or years from now).

Metamor City mixes just about every kind of fantasy element I've ever heard of together and somehow it all seems to fit. The city has architecture, history, aristocratic families, organize crime, slums, and hospitals, too. But that is just the background; the characters and their conflicts are the foreground. The dedicated police detective, the rebellious daughter of a powerful family (and her ex-boyfriend), the hero with the magic sword, the business titans contending for control of a valuable (super-) natural resource, the aloof goddess in her tower; all reveal extra dimensions sooner or later. It's a wild ride and I can't wait for the next book!